Sonia asks partymen to stand together against regionalism

Against the backdrop of MNS chief Raj Thackeray's tirade against North Indians, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday asked partymen to fight the forces of regionalism seeking to create divisions in society.

Gandhi, who was addressing a convention of Congress functionaries and peoples' representatives in Maharashtra, said, "Here (in Maharashtra) regionalism is being encouraged. We have to fight the forces of regionalism which are dividing society for their vested interests."

The Congress president also asked party workers to work together and strengthen the party.

"History is witness to the fact that whenever Congressmen have come together, nobody has been able to hamper their progress," Gandhi said.

Shortly before the Congress president started her address, a group in the audience shouted slogans demanding the removal of Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and replacing him with Revenue Minister Narayan Rane.

Some of the protestors were from Kankavli, in Sindhudurg district from where Rane hails.